| Fort grab second victory with a late flurry |
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Ten man Fort William avenged last week's defeat at the hands of Strathspey thanks to an 89th minute winner which gave them their second win of the season and lifted them above Rothes and the Grantown Jags up to 16th in the table.
The first effort of the game was a Terry Swinton 25 yarder which flew just over John Campbell's crossbar in the 7th minute. It took a further 13 minutes for the Fort to register their first effort at goal; a Sean Ellis cross from the left was flicked over the keeper's head by Mark Gillespie but a covering defender hooked it clear. Two minutes later and Chris Bowles made a fine save to turn a Sean Ellis 25 yarder round the post and later in the half he would comfortably take a long range free kick from the same player. At the other end Ronnie Jones headed over from just 6 yards out on the half hour mark, that was the best chance of the half for the visitors while with just three minutes to go before the break the controversy began when a skirmish in the Thistle box saw the ball brake off a Strathspey hand. Ref Douglas Potter waved play on to the consternation of the home side with both Martin Kerr and Stephen Hendry being booked for protesting the decision a little too vociferously. Fort William should have gone ahead in the 57th minute when sub Sam Urquhart played Sean Ellis through but from 12 yards out, with only the keeper to beat, the youngster fired wide of the target. The Grantown Jags had another let off five minutes later when Ryan Haggerty played a lovely throughball to Michael Ellis who let fly from 18 yards but his right footed effort came back off the post and was cleared. The last ten minutes of the game really caught light and left the fans with plenty to talk about. Firstly in 81 minutes Martin Kerr gained a second yellow for dissent to become the Fort's 12th dismissal of the season. Then three minutes later the home team were ahead. Sean Ellis picked the ball up and embarked on a mazy which took him past three players before he lobbed it over the keeper from the edge of the box. Strathspey levelled in the 87th minute when a free kick from out on the right by Cameron Gaff got the slightest of touches from Murray Ross to take it past John Campbell. However Fort rallied once more and snatched a second win of the season courtesy of Drew Ferguson. He collected the ball and fired it home from 18 yards to spark celebrations at Claggan Park the like of which haven't been seen for two years.
Full Time: Fort William 2 Strathspey Thistle 1 |